“I can’t count how many times in my early youth, and even childhood, I was a patient in the emergency room,” said PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński, referring to the so-called “arranged fights” (“ustawki”) in which Karol Nawrocki had allegedly participated. He added that his brother, Lech Kaczyński, “also took part in this kind of arranged fights—I mean, brawls.”
During a press conference, Jarosław Kaczyński addressed questions about the football-related arranged fights involving Karol Nawrocki, who is backed by PiS.
Kaczyński stated that the entire issue was “simply fake news.” “And the fact that the prime minister uses such allegations and questionable sources—I regret that someone like him is prime minister,” he remarked. “One entirely unreliable person, Mr. Murański, learned something from another entirely unreliable person. Not to mention that the dates don’t match,” Jarosław Kaczyński pointed out. “All you’ve got left are these arranged fights,” he added.
The controversy was sparked by a statement from Jacek Murański, a freak-fight competitor, who posted a video online accusing Nawrocki of lying about his real relationship with Patryk Masiak, also known as “Wielki Bu.” Prime Minister Donald Tusk referenced Murański’s claims on Monday in an interview with Polsat News. “I know about the kompromats, the dirt, that Patryk Masiak, ‘Wielki Bu,’ bragged about, and the leverage he allegedly has over Karol Nawrocki,” Tusk said.
Kaczyński, during the press conference, reflected on his own youth and upbringing alongside his brother, Lech Kaczyński, in Warsaw’s Żoliborz district.
“I can’t count how many times in my early youth, and even childhood, I was a patient in the emergency room. And not because I tripped in the street or during football matches. But because even in Żoliborz there were many very different people, and fights back then were extremely serious,” Kaczyński recounted.
One of the journalists asked about comparing Karol Nawrocki’s candidacy to that of Lech Kaczyński. “You referenced President Lech Kaczyński. He was younger back then, but he also took part in this kind of arranged fights—I mean, brawls,” the PiS leader emphasized. “My brother perhaps had more luck; he was hit with heavy objects less frequently, but he also visited the emergency room occasionally,” he added.